The Faithful and Sensible Steward: The Adventures of Alfred the Butler, part 3

"And the Lord said, 'Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.'Truly I say to you that he will put him in charge of all his possessions. But if that slave says in his heart, 'My master will be a long time in coming,' and begins to beat the slaves, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk; the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces, and assign him a place with the unbelievers. And that slave who knew his master's will and did not get ready or act in accord with his will, will receive many lashes, but the one who did not know it, and committed deeds worthy of a flogging, will receive but few." Luke 12: 42-48 NASB

In case you're just joining us, we have taken a little segue for the story of Alfred the Butler. It's an allegory and it has surprised me as much as anyone. 

Alfred has been a butler for a long time. He has a great master who announced he was giving Alfred a new job. Instead of being a butler, he is now in charge of grain distribution. You might want to read the previous stories to get caught up. Alfred # 1 and Alfred # 2.

We pick up at the point where the Master is leaving Alfred at the warehouse. Alfred is more than a little intimidated...

"Well, Alfred. It's a big job, but I'm counting on you." The master shakes Alfred's hand and departs, leaving Alfred to figure it out.

Alfred has his butler apron in his suitcase. It looks like he will need it, so he finds his new rooms. Maybe he should unpack first. The bedroom is worse than the warehouse. Old pizza boxes and fast food wrappers spill out from the garbage can and litter the floor. A beer bottle is broken, the fragments of glass lying in the corner. The mirror is cracked and so dirty he can't see his reflection. The white sheets on the cot are gray with dirt. They are not Egyptian cotton. The toilet is unmentionable. 

Alfred gags and chokes back the bile rising in his throat. "Oh, dear. This is not good. Not good at all." Alfred thinks a little more, but wisely decides not to say it. He had planned to unpack first, but not in this room. He gags again. The stench makes his eyes burn and he has to blink back tears.

Alfred has reached another decision point. He could do what the previous slacker did or he can get to work trying to do the job the master has given him. "I don't even know where to begin," he moans. He looks up and sees a little mouse nibbling on a crumb from one of the pizza boxes on the floor. A grain warehouse is no place for mice. 

Alfred has been a butler for years. He knows what to do about a mess and he knows how to do it. I might be qualified for this job after all, if it were just a little smaller. 

"Alfred, keep a stiff upper lip and get started," he tells himself, because that is what butlers do. "Make a list." Alfred takes the Mont Blanc pen out of his pocket and retrieves a discarded fast food bag from the floor. 
#1. Find garbage bags, broom, and dust pan. (This was #3 but he can't do anything else until he has bags, so he modifies his list.)
#2. Pick up garbage
#3. Take to dumpster
#4. Sweep
#5. Stack intact bags of grain 
#6. Decide what can be saved of the opened bags of grain

He reviews his list. There is nothing about grain distribution on the list. Well, it can't be helped. First things first. He will get to grain distribution when he can get to the grain.

Time to start on the garbage. Alfred reaches into the suitcase for his butler apron, ties it over his suit, and goes in search of a broom and garbage bags. 

His little bedroom is horrible. Alfred can't imagine lying down on that bed and trying to sleep with a mouse eating from the trash in the corner. YUCK. Alfred hates that room and he considers beginning his cleaning efforts right there. 

You guessed it. Alfred has reached another crossroads. He remembers all the thin, hungry children in the parking lot. This mess, left by the Master's own servants, is the reason those children are dying of hunger. Alfred talks to himself sometimes, and he needs a good "talking to" now.

"Alfred, old boy, this job is not about you. It's about the Master's grain distribution. Hop to it and get this grain ready for those poor little children." He straightens his shoulders and gets to work.

Our butler sweeps up dirt, gathers trash, and fills garbage bags. The dust clouds tickle his nose and make his sneeze. Alfred is accustomed to long hours, so he works until bedtime. When he finally stops, he looks around the warehouse. He has filled twelve bags with garbage. What a mess! 

Alfred once again surveys the 100,000 square foot warehouse. It is still a wreck and he is one man with one push broom and a dustpan. Have I made any difference at all? Is this possible? The job is too big, he thinks, but then he looks at the area where he has been working. He has completely cleared 500 square feet of debris and dust. Only 99,500 square feet to go!

He leans on his broom and takes a break. Why didn't the previous warehouse manager keep the warehouse clean? Everything he needed was here. Didn't he care? Didn't he want to please the Master? I will never understand how he let things get in this mess.

"Well, I'm not in charge of what didn't happen. I'm only in charge of what I can do, and I intend to do it." He gives himself another little talk, then Alfred pushes the broom ahead of him. There's too much work to do to stop now. 

Alfred finds himself in much the same situation we, as Christ followers, find ourselves in today. The body of Christ has, perhaps, not been the salt and light Jesus intended us to be. Regardless of who did or did not do whatever was or was not done, we have a mess in our world. There's no need to elaborate. You can see it for yourself.

We, too, stand at a crossroads. We can focus on making our little "quarters" more comfortable, or we can wade into the mess and try to make a difference. Alfred finds himself with an awful mess (as do we) but he does not hold back. He starts in one corner and makes a difference where he is, and so should we. 

God has placed gifts and abilities in each of us, and He longs for us to use them for Him.

We could make a difference, if we would make a start. What gifts has God placed in you? How can you use those gifts to make a difference in your "corner of the warehouse"?

As we end today, we realize that Alfred the Butler has been a faithful servant, even though he's only worked in 500 of 100,000 square feet. There is much to be done, but he's made a start and that's all that's required of him. At every crossroads of decision (so far) Alfred has done what he can do. He's chosen a good attitude and he's chosen to do what he's supposed to do.

How's our attitude? Have we done all that we can do for the kingdom of God?

Let's gather our supplies and make a start.

~~~~~~~

Our Father, forgive us for not being salt and light in a dark place. Help us to focus more on your kingdom and less on ourselves. Help us to be more interested in making a difference in the world than in keeping ourselves comfortable. In Jesus' name, Amen.

The Faithful and sensible steward: The parable of Alfred the Butler

"And the Lord said, 'Who then is the faithful and sensible steward, whom his master will put in charge of his servants, to give them their rations at the proper time? Blessed is that slave whom his master finds so doing when he comes.'" Luke 12: 42-43 NASB

So far in this series, we've studied faithful and sensible servants, sharing the nourishment of obedience as we "feed my sheep." and healing broken hearts (those of the people around us) as one of the objectives of our service.Yesterday, we looked at the job of dispensing the grain. (Click the links to read the previous posts in this series.) 

Today, we are taking another little segue to talk about a literary technique. It's the idea of showing versus telling. 

Yesterday was a busy day and I had less time to work on my novel than I'd planned. I'm trying to polish it before it goes to the editor, and it's harder work than you might think. Late yesterday afternoon, I reached a difficult section. It was the very first part I'd written back in November. As I scanned it for corrections, I realized it was two pages of telling, not showing. The entire section has to be rewritten. 

I looked at my words, calculated how long it would take to fix it, and wondered if the editor would catch it if I left it. Duh. Of course he will. It has to be changed. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I left it for today. (I'm dreading the fix. Can you tell?)

In "telling", a chunk of information is relayed in narrative form. Example: He had a car wreck. In showing, the information is relayed in a way that can be visualized. Example: Jack's eyes scanned the road. A deer stood in the median. Please stay there. Don't run. He glanced back at his speedometer. 68 mph. Too fast if the deer started into the road. Jack hit his brakes, but not fast enough. The deer dashed for the pasture on the other side. No way to miss it. Jack jerked the steering wheel to the right. The car swerved. He slammed on brakes again and the car began to skid. Spin... 

You get the idea, don't you? We know a lot more information about the car wreck if I show you by describing the events that transpired. 

It's the way Jesus taught. He used parables to show, rather than simply tell. He told stories in such a way that His listeners could imagine them as they unfolded, imagine themselves in the midst of the story. It made the truth more palatable. He could ask questions about the people in His story and His listeners could recognize truth without being hammered by harsh words. The truth He shared was not diminished by His stories, but made easier to understand and harder to forget.

This little parable doesn't have all the visual impact of the story of the Good Samaritan, but I can see it in my mind's eye. For some reason, the servant I see is a stereotypical English butler. We'll call him Alfred. 

Alfred is meticulous about his suit. It's always perfectly pressed without a speck of lint or dirt. His shirt is snowy white with heavy starch. His shoes are free of scuffs and polished to a shine. 

Alfred arises before dawn to have coffee ready for his master when he awakens. He hears the sound of running water. My master is awake. He puts coffee into a carafe, then places the carafe, a mug, and napkin on a tray, and carries it up stairs. He knocks on the master's door. "Sir, are you ready for your coffee?" 

He anticipates every need. (I won't take the time to show how he meets the needs. I'll tell to save time, but you've seen Alfred, so you can imagine it.) Stiff Alfred the butler spends his entire day anticipating his master's needs, responding to his wishes. He stays up long hours after his master goes to bed, preparing for the next day. 

* * *

(three asterisks indicates a scene change) 

Alfred is a hard worker and his master appreciates it. He needs someone to help him with an important task. Master says to himself, "I want someone I can count on," and he thinks of Alfred. Alfred is dependable and a hard worker. He has never let his master down.

"I'll promote Alfred," the master decides, so he calls for his butler. "Alfred, I've made a decision. You're such a good worker, I've decided to promote you. I want you to hand out the grain to my other workers."

* * *

"Hand out grain?" That doesn't sound like a promotion. That sounds terrible. Arthur can't believe it. Haven't I done a good job? Haven't I worked long and hard? Now I have to hand out the grain?

You get the idea, don't you? Alfred, a household servant who's had close access to his master for years is not at all sure he wants a job in the warehouse (where the grain is kept) doing manual labor (moving the bags of grain, distributing the food). He's not at all sure about wearing coveralls and work boots (he's always worn a suit). Life is about to change, and Alfred is not sure it's for the better.

What Alfred can't see is that his master is giving Alfred the work that matters most. The master is happy to have coffee first thing in the morning, but he is most concerned that the people who work for him have the food they need to stay strong and healthy. He can't trust that job to just anyone. Only the most reliable person will do. Only Alfred.

Alfred sees how hard the work will be, how different his life will be. 

The master knows how strong his workers will be if they have the food they need. He knows how much they will accomplish. He's going on a trip, but when he returns, he has a big reward for Alfred. He's not going to mention the reward to Alfred. Not yet. It's a surprise.

Alfred stands at a crossroads. He can embrace the new work with joy and throw himself into it with the same precision and enthusiasm of his butler work, or he can seethe in anger that the job is not the one he wanted. He can be a good steward of the grain, distributing it carefully and correctly, or do a slipshod job, taking advantage of the opportunity to skim grain and selling it for a profit on the black market.

Which will he do? We'll talk more about Alfred tomorrow.

For today, let's consider how we would feel in Alfred's place. God has something for each of us to do. It may not be as attractive a job as the one we envisioned for ourselves, but it is no less important to God. The attitude with which we embrace the work God gives us determines the quality of the work we do. 

How's our attitude?

I'm a better servant when I serve with joy. I'm a better servant when I serve from love.

How well are we serving? What changes do we need to make?

~~~~~~~

Our Father, forgive us for our unwillingness to serve you in difficult circumstances. Help us to embrace the job you have for us and to serve with a cheerful heart. In Jesus' name, Amen.